Autism, anxiety, and bullies

Martin Kelley — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 01:40:11 +0000

A public service announcement from my wife Julie earlier this evening:

Autistic people feel anxiety just like all of us. However they may cope differently. For neurotypicals, if the anxiety is a result of someone taunting or being somehow rude or abrasive or annoying, we know to walk away. But in my experience with my spectrum kids, they don’t understand why people are mean, and they’ll freak out or just keep coming back for more. They don’t necessarily get that it’s best to leave some people alone and walk away. It takes many such lessons to “get it” because their minds work differently. They go from the specific to the general, not the general to the specific, as Temple Grandin points out. They are easy targets for bullies. #TheMoreYouKnowAboutAutism

Feds targeting activists at airports

Martin Kelley — Fri, 25 Jul 2003 18:02:07 +0000

There is now some hard evidence in the charges that the federal agency overseeing airlines has compiled a list that targets and harrasses activists. A Freedom of Information Act request has not turned up the names or who they represent but has discovered that the list itself is 88 pages long.
There have been a number of activists who have experience extra scrutiny and special searches, especially in the San Francisco and Oakland airports. The FOIA case, filed by the Northern California ACLU, is the first to start shedding light on the practice. Dissent is always challenged as unpatriotic in times of war and scandal. Contrary to the opinions of the many cranks who write in to Nonviolence.org, it’s not the military who has ever protected our right to free speech–it’s groups like the ACLU fighting to bring harassment to public attention.